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Sexy or Sexist? by Tamara Hogan

Like many millions of other people, I spent at least some of the day in front of the television on Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge football fan. I'm more about The Puppy Bowl (Eli pooped on the field, bringing a new definition to the word "Foul!"), the halftime show (Destiny's Child reunion! Didn't Kelly Rowland look fierce?) and yes, the commercials.

Critical opinion for several of the commercials was pretty unanimous. On the positive side, a baby Clydesdale? **squee** ovaries explode **  AWESOME. Overwhelmingly panned was the commercial in which supermodel Bar Rafaeli very audibly kissed GoDaddy's website guru, Walter.

Some commercials received mixed reviews, and have catalyzed some unexpected and interesting online discussions. Consider the following commercial, for Audi:

 
Is this commercial cute and sexy, or is it sexist? Did she consent to the kiss, or not? Is the kiss romantic, or is it sexual battery?

Maybe this is an occupational hazard, but I immediately started crafting a back story for these characters - one that factored in where, exactly, a high school boy who doesn't have a date for the prom learned how to kiss like that.

What do you think? Sexy or sexist? Do these characters have a back story? What do you think happened at school the following Monday?


Award-winning author Tamara Hogan loathes cold and snow, but nonetheless lives in Minnesota with her partner Mark and two naughty cats. When she’s not telecommuting to Silicon Valley, she enjoys writing edgy urban fantasy romance with a sci-fi twist. A feral reader with an unapologetic television addiction, Tammy is forever on the lookout for the perfect black boots. Visit her on the web at www.tamarahogan.com.


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Comments

  1. Tamara, my husband (aka Ultimate Sportsfan) watches a lot of sports and a lot of football. Sometimes I am stuck in the room when football is on and I catch one of the commercials between innings. They are horribly sexist and completely juvenile. The one saving grace is that they don't just objectify women, they often make men look pretty stupid. And then sometimes I even make the mistake of listening to the commentary and once in a while the announcers say really sexist things too! Like one time there was a game in Chicago and one guy mentioned how some coach or player's wife probably had his credit card and was maxing it out shopping the Miracle Mile. Um, stereotype a little bit? Not every woman loves to shop. And most women I know are pretty responsible with the family finances. I could go on and on--do not get me started on the cheerleaders.

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  2. Hmm... Sexual battery? Don't think so. She didn't seem unwilling, and it's fairly obvious she wasn't the one who gave him the shiner. Yeah. Definitely some back story there, otherwise, he wouldn't have picked her out of the crowd.
    Would've been more fun if she'd been in the car with him when he left the prom, though. :)

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  3. I love to watch football! And I watched the Super Bowl. I thought this commercial was cute and fun. Can't we just enjoy them without judging them? :-)
    Amelia

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  4. Well, shucks! I didn't watch any of it. Raylen Givens had my full attention and he's a whole lot sexier than football...of course, I was watching it for research. I was not shirking my deadline(s)!

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  5. Shana, I have to admit that one way technology has made watching large sporting events more enjoyable is snarking about the event on Twitter. When the Super Bowl blackout occurred, some of the tweets I read made me laugh so hard I cried!

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  6. Cheryl, I love your rewrite of the ending! ;-)

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  7. Amelia, I also come down on the side of thinking the commercial was cute and fun. If the Prom Queen had been struggling, I would have thought differently.

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  8. Carolyn, what a blast! Sometimes there are definite silver linings to working on deadline.

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